Taylor is accused of stabbing Laura more than 80 times (Picture: SWNS)

Mr Gair told jurors that Taylor initially attacked her in the flat. She fled outside in her pyjamas but he chased after her and killed her in an area known as the Wishing Well before dragging her body to some nearby bushes.

Pathologist Benjamin Swift said a post-mortem examination found she had suffered at least 80 stab wounds. There were also signs she had been stuck all over her body.

‘She suffered defensive wounds, suggesting she had been fighting for her life,’ Mr Gair said.

Witness Bruce Sequin arrived at the sanctuary to see a man holding a knife standing over a woman’s body and making downward stabbing motions.

He raised the alarm and when police arrived they found Taylor covered in blood.

Officers rushed to help Miss Davies and she gasped ‘help’ before losing the strength to speak, Mr Gair said.

In the months before the killing, friends had become concerned about the couple’s relationship, the court heard.

Mr Gair said: ‘You will hear evidence that he would take umbrage at her working with other young men and displayed a controlling nature, telling her for example what she could and could not wear.

‘By the summer she had become quiet and subdued. It’s clear that, towards the end of the relationship, it was not happy.’